taylor



(No Model.)

No. 543,410. Patented July Z3, 1895.

, Y d Y @LMA ' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-VCHARLES H. TAYLOR, OF MONTREAL, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO I WALTER TYLER ROSS, ROBERT WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, ANDAHENRYl MILLEN, OF SAME PLACE.

HYDRAULIC AIR-COMPRES-SING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,410, dated July 23, 1895.

Application led April 19, 1894. Serial No. 508,197. (No model.) 4

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLESHAVELOCK TAYLOR, of the city of Montreal, in the district of Montreal and Province of Quebec,

5 Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hydraulic Air-Compressing Apparatus;` and I do hereby declareA that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.`

1o This invention relates to air-compressing apparatus, in which a falling body of water is used as the compressing agent, and has for its object to simplify such apparatus, Vwith 'a view more especially to dispensing with the I5 use of special compressing-cylinders, suction and outlet valves, and their operating mechanism; and to such end the invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter described, and

l zo particularly pointed out in the claim.

For full comprehension, however, of the invention reference must be had to the annexed drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which like symbols indicate corresponding parts, and wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of the apparatus; and Fig. 2, a horizontal section thereof on line x, Fig. l, partly broken away.

In carrying out my invention at points `3o where the fall of the body of water is insuflcient to secure a satisfactory head of pressure,I first sink or diga well, -as a, in the earth, adjacent to any flowing stream or body of water, to a depth dependent upon the amount of foot-pounds of pressure desired, and in most cases divert the necessary stream required by any suitable dam or other structure, such as b; although in some cases this will not be absolutely required. 'This well 4o being formed, I next insert a vertical standpipe or conductor c long enough to extend from the top of the well to within a short distance of the bottom thereof, and being supported in any suitable Way, preferably by suspending it from the lower timbers of the dam, as shown. The top of this conductor c is open and the bottom terminates preferably in a funnel or hood shaped section c', having its edge c2 preferably curved inward, for a purposeto be presently mentioned. conductor serves to inclose the b'ody of water falling to the bottom of the well, and if the top of the conductor isallowed to pommunicate with the atmosphere, whereby air can be introduced adjacent to the falling water, such air will be sucked or drawn downward through the conductor by the action of the water. This I have determined by experiment, and as a preferable means for introducing the air at the top of the conductor I use a series of 6o small pipes or air-ducts d d arranged in line with the conductor c, extending from a short distance within the conductor through the body of water to the open air, and being carried in any suitable way by the dam-timbers, 65 preferably suspended as shown.

At the foot of the conductor it is possible for the air to separate from the water, owing to the following arrangement: An air tube or conductor e, also preferably having a funnel 7o or hood shaped section e at its lower end, is located centrally within the water-conductor, preferably as shown, the lower edge of the hood being slightly above the lower inwardlyturned edgevc2 of the water-conductor. This 75 air-conductor may be supported in any desirablel way, either by stay connections between the two conductors or suspended, as shown, from the dam-timbers,'and its upper end is extended to any suitable tank or re- So ceiverf.

In operation the body of water falling through the conductor c draws or s'ucks inward through the air-ducts d d quantities of air (indicated as globules by the dotted circles) and carries them down to the bottom between the inner and outer hood-sections, where, by an upward impetus given to the stream by the curved deilecting edge c2 of the outer hood c in the direction indicated by 9o Ithe dotted arrows and'toward the opening in the head of the hood e', such air-globules become separated from the body of water and occupy the space in the inner hood and airconductor leading to the receiver above thev levelof the water in such space. The body of water passes out through the bottom of the hood and ascends to the top of the well, around the conductor, whence it may be directed to another apparatus or to another point of the stream below the dam, the pressure of the air in the conductor c preventing the rising of the water therein.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the air sucked in by the falling body of water and delivered into the air-receiverfthrough the air-conductor e will be. subject to the fullweight pressure of the descending column of water in the conductor, and this pressure augmented by the ascending column outside of such conductor, with the result that a great degree of compression is effected.

Ot' course itwill be understood that it is not always necessary to use a well, since in cases where a waterfall is convenient the water-conductor can be located to receive the stream and any suitable outflow or inclosure serve to contain such a quantity of the Water leaving the conductor as may be desired to increase the compressing-weight upon the body of air, or an equivalent for the backpressure afforded by the column of outilowing water might be used in the form of a weighted float or automatic blow-oft valve, controlling the outflow in a horizontal direction.

What I claim is as follows:

In a hydraulic air compressing apparatus, the combination with asuitable darn and well, of a main conductor located in said well and having its upper receiving end open to re-v ceive a falling body ot' water directed to it by said dam, and its lower delivery end flared or terminating in a hood-shaped section with inwardly curved edge; open ended air tubes or ducts extending from a point within said conductor through the body of water to the open air or atmosphere; and an air conductor with open iiared or hood-shaped lower end located within said main conductor and lead` ing upward through same to any suitable tank or receiver, the space in said well surrounding said main conductor serving as an outflow for the body of water leaving said main conductor as described.

Montreal, 14th day of April, 1894.

CHARLES Il. TAYLOR. Vitnesses:

WILL. P. MCFEAT, FRED. J. SEARS. 

